Mumbai: Citizen forum calls public meet to discuss issues with BEST bus services

The forum asked if substantial funds are given to Metro, why not BEST? File Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The big red bus, Mumbai's transport saviour on numerous occasions, 'four-wheeled hero' of the commuting landscape, especially in the monsoon season, now needs some saving itself. Aamchi Mumbai, Aamchi BEST (AMAB), a citizens' forum pushing for a publicly-owned, affordable, accessible and decent bus transport in the city, has invited people for a public hearing/meeting on the BEST on April 26 from 3 pm to 6 pm at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, opposite BMC building (CST) at Azad Maidan.

The deficits

The AMAB cited in its invitation, doing the rounds on social media, that there is a "worsening crisis in the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST)". It added, "In 2017, the BEST management and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared Mumbai's public service as inefficient and loss-making and introduced private operators as a way of reducing its mounting deficits. However, the AMAB stated that this policy has ‘worsened the situation', as apart from BEST's deficits (which continue to mount), the bus service is faced with all the problems that private operations have unleashed on commuters and citizens, such as defaulting contractors, breakdown of buses, discontented workers, inconvenienced commuters and inadequate and poor-quality services."

Hussain Indorewala, co-convenor, AMAB

The AMAB added, "The public hearing aims to bring together individual commuters and organisations from different parts of the city, document their experiences with public transport, trace the root causes of the present crisis, and find solutions which are pro-people and sustainable."

The awareness

Vidyadhar Date, convenor AMAB, clarified, "When we say solutions, you must realise that not everything is automatic or instant. The public meeting is about creating awareness that the big red bus needs to be saved. Life for commuters will be miserable without these buses. We need to find our voices and have a platform to express our views."

When asked about the Metro that is and will add a new dimension to Mumbai's transport, Date insisted, "Travelling via Metro means one will have to switch different lines to the destination. So, the BEST bus is the mode of transport that gives complete connectivity." Date added that with decreasing buses, etc "the public transport system will be systematically killed and motorised options encouraged".

Answering a specific question about the financial problems of the BEST, Date said, "It is the state government that has to take full responsibility for the service. A substantial amount has been given to the Metro, why not funds to the BEST? It is unjust to favour one mode of transport over another."

The crunch

Co-convenor of AMAB, Hussain Indorewala said of the financial crunch besetting the bus service, "It is important to remember that the financial crisis of BEST is a creation of the authorities, the BEST management and the BMC. The financial crisis will disappear if the BMC agrees to subsidise and operate BEST as a part of its budget, which it is legally mandated to do anyway. But the plan seems to be to manufacture a crisis and through it a pretext to hand over operations to contractors, force people out of buses and into metros, and hand over BEST land to builders."

Our demands

Indorewala added, "We should all demand that BEST be restored as a fully publicly operated service (no contractor operated or private buses), that the number of buses should be increased to at least 6000, that bus lanes are provided on major routes and used primarily for buses, that the BMC operate BEST as part of its budget, and that the plans to sell depots to builders (euphemistically called ‘monetisation') should immediately be withdrawn." In the end, Indorewalla said about the ‘jan sunwai': "We will be preparing a report of people's testimonies as well as comments of the panellists at the meet and submit a report to the authorities."

‘Jan Sunwai'
At: Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, opposite BMC building, CSMT
On: Saturday, April 26
From: 3 pm to 6 pm
Entry: Open; no registration needed